The Brewers traded Eldred with José Valentín to the Chicago White Sox for Jaime Navarro and John Snyder on January 12, 2000. Eldred pitched for the White Sox in 2000–01, but totaled just 22 starts. His record in 2000 was 10–2 and he was the AL Pitcher of the Month for June. He missed all of the 2002 season due to injury and signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals on December 18, 2002. He pitched in relief for the National Leaguepennant-winning Cardinals in 2004, and made two appearances in the World Series. Eldred announced his retirement as a player on October 27, 2005. He was the Cardinals winner of the 2005 Darryl Kile Good Guy Award.[2]
Post-playing career
Eldred also joined the Big Ten Network in the spring of 2009 as a college baseball analyst. He co-hosted the network's studio coverage of the 2009 Big Ten Baseball Tournament with Dave Revsine. He was a pregame color analyst for the team's telecasts on Fox Sports Midwest. He also was a special assistant to Cardinals' general managerJohn Mozeliak, instructing minor league players for various on-field and off-field issues.[3]
In November 2017, Eldred was named the Kansas City Royals pitching coach.[4] He was fired on October 5, 2022, immediately after the season ended, with the 2022 team being worst in the American League for strikeouts, walks, hits allowed, runs allowed, and ERA.[5][6]
Personal life
Both of Eldred's sons played collegiately. C.J. was a pitcher for the Iowa Hawkeyes and Luke was a pitcher for Dallas Baptist. C.J. was signed by the Kansas City Royals as an undrafted free agent and has played for numerous professional teams.[7]